This book examines the contemporary relevance of the concept of the core executive across a range of constitutional contexts, covering examples from Westminster system, continental Europe, and Scandinavia. Much study of core executives focuses exclusively on the Westminster system, but this book expands that scope to take into account nations where coalition government has been the norm for decades. Focusing on the interaction between the political and administrative executives, the book addresses tensions between the two that have become increasingly apparent in an age of populism and mediatisation.

The study of central government has been dominated by the recurring questions of Prime Ministerial versus Cabinet government and civil service versus ministerial power. Using the idea of 'power dependence' this book challenges these simplicities to provide a definitive assessment of - and introduction to - power and policy at the core of British political life. It undermines traditional approaches by demonstrating that power in the core executive is complex, and flows between actors and institutions. The Prime Minister can only exercise power with the support of the Cabinet, and ministers and officials are often partners rather than competitors.

A multidisciplinary analysis of the role of values and virtue in public administration, this book calls for a rediscovery of virtue. It explores ways of enabling the public sector to balance the values that are presently dominant with classic values such as accountability, representation, equality, neutrality, transparency and the public interest.

Making a significant, novel contribution to the burgeoning international literature on the topic, this Handbook charts the various methodological, theoretical, comparative and empirical dimensions of a future research agenda on ministerial and political advisers.

Given the European Union s comprehensive influence over accession states in Central Europe, the full adoption of the acquis communautaire prior to enlargement seemed a guaranteed outcome. By studying EU rule adoption in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, this book finds that successful legal alignment was in fact contingent on institutional reform within national core executives. Reinforcement of the core executive vis-à-vis ministerial departments ensured timely and accurate rule adoption, while a weak core executive resulted in uneven and incomplete legal change. Besides contributing to a better understanding of the dynamics of national adaptation during the Eastern enlargement, the book lays the foundations for explaining post-accession compliance in the new EU member states.

This book proposes a new way of understanding events throughout the world that are usually interpreted as democratization, rising authoritarianism, or revolution. Where the rule of law is weak and corruption pervasive, what may appear to be democratic or authoritarian breakthroughs are often just regular, predictable phases in longer-term cyclic dynamics - patronal politics. This is shown through in-depth narratives of the post-1991 political history of all post-Soviet polities that are not in the European Union. This book also includes chapters on czarist and Soviet history and on global patterns.

This volume has been designed as a key resource in the field of international political leadership research. Written by a team of distinguished leadership scholars from three continents and nine countries, the original chapters gathered in this volume cover all the major fields of political leadership, from executive, legislative and party leadership to leadership in social movements and international organizations. The special value and appeal of this book relates to its genuinely comparative focus that characterizes all chapters.

This book provides an appreciation of the work of renowned scholar Richard Rose. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Rose has explored a vast range of subjects related to British, American and comparative politics. His work, however, has always been concerned with an underlying theme: governing modern societies in changing times. Celebrating Rose's career which has shaped postwar political science in decisive ways, this volume examines issues, debates and lines of research stimulated by his work. Chapters are organized thematically under five headings central to his research: parties and elections, political institutions, public policy, governing at multiple levels, and trust and legitimacy. The book demonstrates that politics cannot be reduced to economics, the actions of individuals, predictive science or functional determinism, but has its own logic and modes of justification. It will appeal to scholars and students of politics, public policy and governance.

Europeanization has become a key topic in analysis of the politics of the new Europe. This broad-ranging new text focuses centrally on the impact of the EU on its member states but also on the way in which states 'up-load' their policy priorities to the European level.

Governments face new challenges in an era marked by globalization, shifting economic and national security policies, pervasive electronic media, and policy reform. Steering from the Centre details how chief executives in ten Western democracies have responded to governance challenges in the wake of reform ideas such as the New Public Management which stress deregulation and decentralization. This volume analyzes the extent to which the centre of government can retain political and administrative control when delivery of public services is increasingly done through networks, contacts, partnerships, and a host of other devolved arrangements. International in scope, Steering from the Centre covers the experiences of diverse countries and examines how various centralization/decentralization strategies have played out in these differing national and institutional contexts.